Books like “Stardust”

What to read after “Stardust” by Neil Gaiman: a list matched by tropes, mood and atmosphere. Under each book you will see what it has in common.

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1
Howl's Moving Castle
Diana Wynne Jones · 1986
Similar atmosphere: “Whimsical”
- Whimsical
- Witches
Cursed by a witch into an old woman's body, Sophie takes shelter in the moving castle of the vain wizard Howl. Amid a fire demon, a scarecrow and Howl's tangled contracts, she finds a home and a way to break her own spell.
2
An Enchantment of Ravens
Margaret Rogerson · 2017
From the same world: “Fae”
Isobel paints portraits for the fae, whose kind cannot create art themselves. When she paints mortal sorrow into the face of the autumn prince, she commits a crime that could cost her life. He carries her to his court for judgment, and their mutual distrust slowly turns into something forbidden.
3
Tress of the Emerald Sea
Brandon Sanderson · 2023
Similar atmosphere: “Whimsical”
- Whimsical
- Quest
Tress lives on an island where the seas are made of deadly spores. When the man she loves is taken by the Sorceress, she leaves her ordinary life, gathers an unlikely crew and sails toward the midnight sea to bring him home.
4
The Night Circus
Erin Morgenstern · 2011
Similar atmosphere: “Whimsical”
- Whimsical
- Star-Crossed Lovers
A black-and-white circus arrives without warning and opens only at night. Behind its rivalry of illusions stand two young magicians, Celia and Marco, bound by a contest neither chose. As they fall in love, the circus and everyone in it becomes the stakes.
5
The King of Elfland's Daughter
Lord Dunsany · 1924
From the same world: “Fae”
When the people of Erl ask to be ruled by a magic lord, their lord sends his son Alveric into Elfland to win the hand of Lirazel, the King's daughter. Their marriage cannot hold against the pull of Elfland, so Alveric sets out on a long, hopeless quest to bring her home while centuries pass in the mortal world.
6
Rhapsodic
Laura Thalassa · 2016
From the same world: “Fae”
- Fae
Years ago, Callie, a siren, made a bargain with the King of the Night and racked up hundreds of favours she has never repaid. Now he has returned to collect, and he needs her help to find fae warriors who are disappearing from the Otherworld. Their old bargain binds them together, and the feelings Callie buried long ago refuse to stay hidden.
7
The Wicked King
Holly Black · 2019
From the same world: “Fae”
- Fae
Jude now controls the throne from behind the scenes, holding Prince Cardan bound to her for a year and a day. Court politics, undersea enemies and her own divided heart threaten the plan. She must keep her grip on power while denying the feelings growing between her and the wicked king she came to despise.
8
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches
Sangu Mandanna · 2022
From the same world: “Witches”
- Witches
Mika Moon hides her magic and never lets herself grow close to anyone. When a strange house asks her to teach three young witches, she meets a prickly librarian, a house full of secrets and the possibility of a place that finally feels like home.
9
The Colour of Magic
Terry Pratchett · 1983
Similar atmosphere: “Whimsical”
- Whimsical
- Quest
Rincewind, a wizard who failed out of magic school, is saddled with guiding Twoflower, the Discworld's first tourist, on a chaotic tour. Their journey drags a naive optimist, a walking luggage chest and a very unwilling hero through one disaster after another.
10
The Cruel Prince
Holly Black · 2018
From the same world: “Fae”
- Fae
Jude was born mortal but was raised in the High Court of Faerie after her parents were killed. Mocked by the fae and drawn to the cruel prince Cardan, she schemes her way into the court's politics, trading secrets and taking dangerous risks to win a place among those who despise her.
11
The Last Unicorn
Peter S. Beagle · 1968
Similar atmosphere: “Whimsical”
- Whimsical
- Quest
A unicorn learns she may be the last of her kind and leaves her forest to search for the others. With a bumbling magician and a sharp-tongued woman she travels to a king's castle, where love and loss wait at the end of the road.
12
Uprooted
Naomi Novik · 2015
From the same world: “Witches”
- Witches
Every ten years the wizard known as the Dragon takes one girl from Agnieszka's valley. When he chooses her instead of her best friend, she is carried to his tower, where she discovers a talent for magic, a growing bond with her cold teacher and the corrupted Wood that threatens them all.